TPT July 2015

Industry News

Kusakabe supplies two pipe mills

external weld bead removal and swarf chopping. After the weld seam annealing and cooling stage a rotary sizing mill sizes the tube to the customer’s requirements before it is cut to length by a three- bladed rotary cut off. The 13" casing line manufactures tubes from114.3 to 355.6mmup to 16mm thick, and steel grades with tensile yield strengths up to 750MPa. The line starts with the uncoiler and shear welder, horizontal strip accumulator all the way through to the hydrostatic pressure testing, UTS, coating and packing in a continuous process. The pipe mill itself incorporates Kusakabe’s latest universal forming, followed by three cassette fin passes and a five-roll squeeze stand, and internal and external weld bead removal and swarf chopping. After the weld seam annealing and cooling stage, a rotary sizing mill sizes the tube

KUSAKABE Electric & Machinery has supplied and commissioned two pipe mills in Taiwan for CHS Steel in conjunction with several other suppliers. This new installation is for a state-of-the- art operation and will make it the most advanced in Taiwan. The 4" tubing line manufactures tubes from 60.3 to 114.3mm up to 10.5mm thick, and steel grades with tensile yield strengths up to 750MPa. The line starts with the uncoiler and shear welder, vertical looper (strip accumulator) all the way through to the hydrostatic pressure testing, UTS, coating and packing in a continuous process. The tubing line itself incorporates Kusakabe’s vertical looper (strip accumulator), flying strip shear and sub- based stands with independent drive to each shaft for quick changeover and improved drive. One squeeze stand is provided in a four-roll configuration, with internal and

to the customer’s requirements before it is cut to length by a two-bladed milling cut off. The strip accumulators provide CHS with continuous operation while the flying strip shear reduces changeover times and strip wastage when roll changes are required. The configuration of the forming sections allows for rapid change over and easy adjustments while individual drive motors on each shaft provide equal distribution of the driving force through all the forming rolls. The squeeze stands provide for the ideal strip presentation for HF welding with maximum rigidity, which provides a stable welding environment. The rotary sizing mills are a patented process for sizing tube and pipe. The RSM has several advantages over traditional sizing methods. The outside diameter (OD) variation is considerably less; weld seam location can be accurately controlled; the average OD can be adjusted very accurately by a single point adjustment; the tooling can infinitely cover a range of diameters typically around 15mm; tooling wear is reduced and does not affect the performance of the process; and there are no tooling marks on the pipe and the surface finish is improved. Tooling changes are also simple and fast. The two-bladed rotary cut off is a chipless process, which is fast and the operating costs low. In this application the OD surface is chamfered and the ID weld bead swarf is cut at the same time. The two-bladed milling cut off on the casing line provides a square cut end, which minimises any additional machining operations that may be required. The pipe is cut with tungsten carbide-tipped saw blades. Kusakabe Electric & Machinery Co, Ltd – Japan

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J uly 2015